Tag Archives: bonus tracks

Riot and Metal Blade are set to release the 30th Anniversary Edition of their classic album Thundersteel on 30th November.

Originally released in 1988 the album is now getting the full Metal Blade treatment including bonus tracks and a bonus DVD with tons of exclusive live concert footage. And there’s also a vinyl edition… clear lavender!

Anyhoo, this is a must buy. Not my favourite stuff of theirs (I vote Narita) but it’s a sterling reboot of the band in a pacey, speed/power metal mould and well worth getting for fans of classic metal.

Hard to believe it’s already eight years since Ghost’s debut album Opus Eponymous. Time flies when you’re having satanic fun. And on the plague, death and apocalypse themed Prequelle, Ghost are still all about fun. Like on its excellent predecessor 2015’s Meliora, Ghost’s fourth album is full of blissfully catchy theatrical rock that laces its spiritually uplifting hooks with diabolical twists. But it doesn’t do much that Meliora didn’t already do better. Two flat instrumentals pad out the running time, Pro Memoria is beyond Muppety and the fiendish lyrical slants aren’t as keen or effective (replacing “be with” with “bewitch” isn’t enough to add depth to the ABBA-tastic Danse Macabre). But all gripes are rendered churlish when faced with the excellence of tracks like the glam metal Rats, the passionately defiant See The Light and majestically melodic Witch Image. Prequelle might be a weak facsimile of its predecessor but there’s still enough devilish fun in its diminishing returns to make it worthy of devotion.

Exciting news from Rock Candy records in the UK. The first two Winger albums, Winger and In the Heart of the Young will be reissued on the 3rd Nov 2014. This talented band command considerable respect these days with their recent albums but these two reissues date back to the late 80s/early 90s: the commercial heyday for the band but also an era that found them mocked on Beavis and Butthead and used as dart practice by Metallica.

My own Winger collection is very slight and I’ve been meaning to buy these two albums for ages. I thought second-hand vinyl would be the way to go but these CD reissues will do nicely instead. I always enjoy this label’s work, the remastering and liner notes are reliably top-notch. Unusually for Rock Candy releases, both these reissues also come with a couple of bonus tracks too: a B-Side or two from the era and a remix on each.

While I doubt either reissue is essential for anyone that already owns the albums they are definitely enticing for newbies to the band and anyone wanting a sonic upgrade from their old CD versions. November is pretty hectic with hot new releases so I doubt I’ll be investing in these straight-away but I will be picking them up as soon as I’m able.

Rock Candy also has reissues of the first Damn Yankees album and Honeymoon Suite’s Monsters Under the Bed lined up too. You can order or read more about these and the Winger releases over at the label’s site.